Sunday, October 28, 2012

Yea! The constant on again off again rain that had plagued our area because of a last minute hurricane finally went away. We were able play once again in the annual charity golf tournament. We did have to however play through a constant wind of 25 miles an hour, sometimes gusting higher throughout the day. But it certainly beats playing in the rain. Course conditions were great and the wind did aid in drying out the course.

We did good, not enough to win but we were in contention through out the day. The format is called best ball in which each person shoots and the ball in the best position is where everyone shoots the next shot.
We were in great shape on each hole and had many birdie attempts, making many of them and only one bogey (one over par) the whole day.

We shot a 66. We were very happy.

The winning score

61.

The worst score was a 94!

So you can we we fared well, not something we could individually but as a foursome, we rocked.
There were many outstanding shots throughout the day, and a couple that would have made the highlights on ESPN. I had my share of the good, the bad and the ugly, but trust me, the good far out weighed the bad and the ugly, well, there were only a couple of those thankfully. Someone was always there to come to the rescue. Afterwards there was a dinner and prizes raffled off, which we managed to win a few, including a few rounds of golf for a foursome which is very nice.

But one of the guys is suffering with a vocal cord condition that sounds like a bad case of laryngitis. It is an on again off again problem he has had for over a year. Last year, he was out of work for nine weeks. He is in sales so you can see the problem he has. The doctors finally figured that is caused by stress and work conditions are a major cause of it. Surprisingly, by clearing his through, he is able to talk in a normal voice for about five or six words before it goes on him, long enough to drop an f-bomb or two. Very funny!

He works for my former employer. The stress part I totally understand.
I said he needs to go work somewhere else and look after his health. He didn't reply but I know he is trapped in a better job then he would be able to find elsewhere.

It was a very long day as usual. I left at 8:30 a.m. and came home at 8:30 p.m. No, it doesn't take that long to play a round of golf. Normally a round will take 4 to 4 1/2 hours to play, in a tournament one can add on one to two hours. We started off with a nice breakfast early, sign in , some putting, some driving range hits, standing around having a few beers, flirting with the beer ladies, ( who me? ) and the waiting for the 12:30 start. You can feel the excitement building as you wait and finally off we go.

I came home tired but sober, took some Nyquil as my throat was feeling bad and went to sleep. Now as I sit here, the lawnmower beckons and my moment of rest is all but over.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The ladyhfeatured below was once the basketball coach for the girls basketball league back when we lived in Coral Springs, Florida
Both of my daughters played for her at different times. Super nice lady.
If I remember correctly, her dad was the team physician for the New York Jets. She was around football at a very early age. I first met her at a parents career day. She out did us all, telling tales of football that she knew so well. One day she brought in a Super Bowl ring from the 1969 Jets. She let me try it on. It looked very cool. Not as gaudy as they make them now, never the less, very cool. 1969, that is when the Jets had Broadway Joe Namath.
See, even I liked the Jets at one time.
The following is a very recent article that was brought to my attention and I thought I would share it with you.

The New York Jets are going to have it tough this weekend against the Dolphins and will need Tim Tebow and perhaps even some Broadway Joe to help them win.

It's not a prediction coming from some television or newspaper pundit, but rather from Connie Carberg, a 61-year-old Coconut Creek woman who really, really knows the New York Jets.

"I am not going to say they are going to lose, but they are going to have a hard time with the Dolphins this weekend," Carberg said. "I see [Ryan] Tannehill and I see the Dolphins have a very good quarterback."

Carberg has been making predictions about the Jets ever since 1974 when she became the National Football League's first female talent scout for her beloved team.

A pioneering woman in a sport teeming with testosterone, Carberg's opinions on players and her ability to spot talent by watching hours of film earned her the job and the title "Ms. Jet.

Remember Mark Gastineau? She discovered him.

"They inducted him into the Ring of Honor this year, and he wanted me to go and do the Sack Dance with him," Carberg said. "He's definitely my biggest find."

Carberg's affiliation with the Jets began when she was a teenager. Her father, Calvin Nicholas, and her uncle, James Nicholas, were team doctors. It was normal to see players such as Joe Namath and coach Weeb Ewbank just hanging around her house in Long Island.

Her admiration for the team went beyond just being a fan. She remembers conducting her own mock drafts and preparing player reports after each game.

After graduating from Ohio State University, she became the first woman hired by the Jets, as a secretary of sorts. She answered phones, made coffee, ran errands, baked pies and arranged meetings with players and fans.

"Back then it was all very different. It wasn't like the big business that it is now. People would just show up and wanted to say hello to the players," she said. "It was a one-story building and I could just go back to the locker room and say, "Hey, Joe, one of your fans is here to meet you.' "

But her job soon evolved as she impressed coaches and assistants with her football knowledge. The coaches soon began assigning her to watch film and visit colleges. They invited her into the team's draft room.

In 1975, she was asked to make the team's last draft pick during Round 17. She went with Ohio State tight end Mike Bartoszek.

"He didn't make the team, but he wasn't the first or second to be cut that summer," Carberg said.

Carberg went on to become a full-time scouting assistant with the team. In addition to being credited with finding Gastineau before the 1979 draft, she along with other scouts picked Wesley Walker, who became a two-time Pro Bowl receiver and the team's MVP in 1978. Scouts from other teams had shunned Walker because he was legally blind in one eye.

Carberg said she never really thought about the uniqueness of being a woman in a man's sport during the 1970s, and believes it was that attitude that earned her respect from the players with whom she worked.

"It was something that I loved so much. I saw an opportunity and took it and never really looked at it as a pioneering sort of thing," she said. "I worked hard on it and I think the players all saw that and consider me as one of the staff."

Carberg left the team in 1980 after her husband took a job in Coral Springs, where the couple moved to raise a family.

Carberg said she still watches football, both college and pro, all weekend. Just as she did when she was a teenager, she still enjoys taking notes during games and writing scouting reports on the players she's keeping an eye on. She returns each year to New York to attend summer camp and keeps a blog on Jets news.

Carberg, now a public relations manager with Al Hendrickson Toyota/Scion, said her loyalty to the Jets has kept her from trying to get a job with the Dolphins all these years.

"I just can't bring myself to do that. I love my Jets too much," she said.

And while almost everyone — including some Jets fans — finds it fashionable to say Tebow stinks, Carberg is not ready to sack him.

"I love Tim Tebow; he's a great human being. He's always been a winner," she said. "I just wish they'd give him a little bit more playing time."

Thursday, October 25, 2012

During the run of the original Start Trek they had an episode where Kirk and Spock end up on a strange planet (naturally) and stumble upon a people that resembled the United States fighting against the Chinese. One can see the flag, Declaration of Independence and so on. The episode was panned by the critics but my point is they foresaw the future fight and the loss by the United States. This clip is kind of choppy but it was the best I could find. The writers of science fiction again and again manage to predict the future, and Gene Rodenberry was one of the best,

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

I have been calling on many business owners over the last few weeks and last week I was able to set up nine employer presentations (which leads to a presentation to the employees) for this week.

Yesterday went well, talking with two out of three (one was not in) as I watched my district manager in action, with me chiming in on occasion as the need arose.

I have four today, starting at 10:00 a.m. I should be done by 3:00 p.m. I texted my trainer to confirm she will be there but low and behold there is a schedule conflict. She can't make it!

oh oh!! I have four stops, can't reschedule them all.

The hell with it.

A baptism by fire.

On my own.

Copious amounts of coffee.

The charge of the light brigade ( with a better ending)

I will let you know.

ray

p.s.
Just got a call from another agent who will stop by to give me a hand. He will be by to help out but by the time I see him I will be at call number two! What fun!!
p.s.s.
ha ha all hands on deck! help is on the way!! another agent called will meet me on the first call.
I guess the flotation device will not be needed!

Opposition Parties' Presidential Debate Blacked Out by US Broadcast Media - Al Jazeera Will Air It

Another example of the tragically constrained nature of current US politics: There's a debate planned for opposition candidates from the Constitution Party, the Green Party, the Justice Party, and the Libertarian Party, moderated by Larry King, and yet mainstream broadcast television in the US wants no part of it.

As I said when commenting on the arrest of Jill Stein outside of the last debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, the narrow philosophical differences on most if certainly not all issues between the Democrats and Republicans, and the constrained policy decisions on environmental issues this brings about, is truly exemplified in the state managed nature of the debates.

Outside views, to both the left, right and center are excluded, limiting the breadth of what can be discussed, what viewpoints are considered.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

You will watch on TV or read somewhere that the toys you played with or the comics books you read are worth a gazillion dollars in mint condition and any grown up will say "oh man I had that!"

They are totally missing the point. I bought those toys to play with. I read the comic books until the pages fell apart. They were meant to enjoy, not collect. Someone that collects never enjoyed. And that is the whole point of having fun isn't it?

Sunday, October 14, 2012

yes, I know, the high temperature today should be 87, but it won't feel hot. Some clouds out there right now, sort of a grey sky but it is the wind, making it feel cool out.

It is true that at times the heat and humidity can make life unbearable but the fall season does bring relief to many. In fact I can easily lay around outside doing nothing, feeling the caress of the breeze on my face. But the weekend is for outside house work, the never ending chore that it is.

Soon though, I will be complaining about the cold, yes it does get cold here and wishing for the heat once again. But now it is time to trim the palm trees once again. How many of you out there can say that? lol

Not an exciting or informative post, but then again it is a Sunday, right?

Saturday, October 13, 2012

The opening credit is from 1974, Tom Baker is the current Dr. Who. Yep, 1974 is when I started watching.

Oh to be a time lord. What ? You don't know what that means? Then you must become a Dr. Who fan. Thanks to BBC America and Direct TV I can watch it again.

When I was much younger, Dr. Who was a Sunday night staple on the local PBS station and the viewing was much anticipated. The move to Florida, change of stations and poof, it was gone. I was out of touch for years. Not any longer.

For those not in the know, Dr. Who is a time lord, a time traveler. What does that mean, what does he do? Honestly, you have to watch the show. But beware, you will be utterly lost and confused in each and every episode. You will want to come back again and again. The show itself has been around for years. There has been many Dr. Who's. That will be part of the confusion. It doesn't matter, in due time the new actor will immerse himself in the role and you will adjust.

The sets and graphics have changed over the years, getting better and better. The imagination of the writers has no limits and the plot lines are incredible, the villains are so so villainous! The other actors and actresses are believable and work well with each other.

There was talk of a movie that would have done well but the talk died down as someone probably realized it would have ruined the serial nature of the show. Here in the states it would have been done and killed the franchise. We never learn.

This is the current opening with Matt Smith. Music is still great but the graphics explode on the screen.

So I invite you to step in the Tardis (the blue phone booth, small outside, huge inside) and journey through time. You will be hooked. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Alex Karras was a fearsome football player in the 60's for the Detroit Lions, was on Monday Night Football, starred in a TV show called Webster, but most will remember him as Mungo in the movie classic Blazing Saddles. He died at 77 suffering from cancer, kidney problems and dementia. But he will always be remembered from the following

Monday, October 8, 2012

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012

Karl Denninger, "What Defines America?"

"What Defines America?"
by Karl Denninger

"On this Columbus Day, when Columbus "discovered" The New World (Really? Native Americans weren't already here?) one should, I believe, ponder the following. "What Defines America?" Is it a defined political hierarchy centered in Washington DC? Or is it The Constitution? Is it a symbol (e.g. the flag)? Or is it A Republican Form of Government, as allegedly guaranteed by our Constitution (as amended)?

Is it an organized looting operation centered in NYC and Washington DC? Or is it this? "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." - US Declaration of Independence.

Is it "merely" a conglomeration of 50 alleged "States", or is it the bargain struck between each of those 50 States and The Federal Government. Specifically:

"Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion;" An official policy of "all illegal immigrants are welcome to come and loot our Treasury and people" is contrary to these requirements, and a Republican Form of Government requires actual representative government - not purchased, bribed legislators.

Is The Fed and Treasury's explicit and declared policy of dollar devaluation, which is exactly what "Quantitative Easing" (aka "monetization") is, lawful? Or does The Constitution specify that Congress has this power, not The Executive or an "independent" Central Bank (Article I Section 8), specifically: "To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;" Is not The Constitution (as properly amended) a Contract between the people, the States and The Federal Government?

I argue that it is. Contracts require performance by all parties. Has The Federal Government met its burden of performance? If not, who's seceding from whom? Is there not an argument to be made that Secession has already happened - without a shot fired - and it was Washington DC and Wall Street that did the Seceding from our Constitutional Form of Government? Note that under 18 USC Chap 115 Sec 2381-2385, for a crime to be committed an act of secession must involve violence. A "mere" renouncement of the Constitutional Principles that allegedly bind our nation together by The Federal Government and its handmaidens both at The Federal Reserve and on Wall Street, accomplished without violence, is, by all appearances, lawful.

So here's your homework for the day - ponder this: Does America, bound and defined by The Constitution with the rights and duties of each party defined, still exist, or has Washington DC and Wall Street already seceded over the previous two decades? Is this, in point of fact, not the root of the problems we now face in our economy and nation, whether they be runaway debt, financial frauds perpetrated upon the people, the counties and states, or blatantly-fraudulent entitlement promises that are mathematically impossible to sustain?

Sunday, October 7, 2012

The last three days or so we were without internet service. It makes one quickly realize how dependent we have become on day to day doings on line. It can get tense around the home without it.
Bill paying, work reports did not get done, let alone the mindless quests of the trivial minutia that I love.

On Friday I had to change what I had planned to do because I could not do the research I needed and could not print up the reports that were necessary. I did stop by the local library to do a few things, they had plenty of computers at the ready and no lines.
Doing personal business in front of others felt uncomfortable at first but stuff had to get done so what the hell!

Back at home, we survived, barely. Oh there was talk about staging a duel at dawn, but neither one of us could find a second, and rules are rules. And the cost of dueling pistols...sigh

And I couldn't post at will. Well maybe it did save the world from some of my useless 1's and O's but I did miss it. So I am back.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

borrowed from Running Cause I can't fly

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Rule One:
You will receive a body. You may love it or hate it,
but it will be yours for the duration of your life on Earth.

Rule Two:
You will be presented with lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called 'life.'
Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons
or hate them, but you have designed them as part of your curriculum.

Rule Three:
There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of experimentation,
a series of trials, errors, and occasional victories. The failed experiments
are as much a part of the process as the experiments that work.

Rule Four:
A lesson is repeated until learned. Lessons will be repeated to you in various
forms until you have learned them. When you have learned them,
you can then go on to the next lesson.

Rule Five:
Learning does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain lessons.
If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

Rule Six:
'There' is no better than 'here'. When your 'there' has become a 'here,' you will
simply obtain a 'there' that will look better to you than your present 'here'.

Rule Seven:
Others are only mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another
person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

Rule Eight:
What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need.
What you do with them is up to you.

Rule Nine:
Your answers lie inside of you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

Rule Ten:
You will forget all of this at birth. You can remember it if you want
by unravelling the double helix of inner knowing.